Ladakh-Haryana transmission line: DRDO to provide technical expertise for high-altitude manpower deployment

Tribune News Service

Vijay Mohan

Chandigarh, June 6

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will provide technical expertise relating to manpower deployment in high altitude areas to the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) in executing a mammoth project to establish power transmission lines from Ladakh to Haryana.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS), and PGCIL a few days ago under which technologies and methodologies required for deploying workforce in extreme climatic conditions and harsh terrain will be made available to the project executing agency, DRDO sources said.

A 5-gigawatt transmission line from Pang in Ladakh to Kaithal in Haryana, covering a distance of about 900 km is being set up by PGCIL to transmit green energy generated in Ladakh through solar and other renewable methods.

Pang is located at an altitude of about 15,500 feet, about 175 kms south of Leh on the highway to Manali. “About half the length of the power line would pass over mountains, with the elevation at some place like Lachulung La being close to 17,000 feet,” a DRDO official said.

There are stretches where the temperature even in summer falls below zero and strong winds and unexpected snow can be experienced, besides thin air. This makes working conditions tough and hazardous, calling for scientific approach and special equipment to deal with the environmental factors.

Research areas of DIPAS include high-altitude and cold physiology, evaluation of acclimatization to environmental stress, assessment of nutritional requirements in different environmental conditions, survival, sustenance and performance of humans in extreme altitude regions, modulation of human performance under extreme environments and prevention and treatment of high-altitude maladies.

In January 2022, the Power Ministry had given its sanction for setting up the Pang-Kaithal transmission line for evacuating renewable energy from Ladakh as part of the green energy corridor. The project includes a 12 GWh battery storage system. The estimated cost of the project is about Rs 27,000 crore, and is expected to take five years to complete.

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